Community STaR, the Service for Training and Research, held a Climate Change Forum in Miller Community Centre on 5 September. We were fortunate to have three outstanding speakers from the Climate Council, the Climate and Health Alliance and 350.

Community STaR recently partnered with the Liverpool Community Drug Action Team (CDAT) to hold a well-attended public forum at the PCYC on October 14 which was based around reducing alcohol related harm. Titled Alcohol in Our Community, it aimed to address community concerns about alcohol-related harm, discuss evidence-based strategies to reduce harm, provide a forum for ideas, information and networking, and strengthen the valuable work of CDAT in the Liverpool and 2168 community. Participants included local service workers and community members. Facilitated by Mr Norman Booker, the forum opened with an acknowledgement of country by Uncle Steve Williams. In their introductory talks, Mr Bernardino Siry, Multicultural Liaison Officer from the NSW Police Force Green Valley Local Area Command spoke about the work of the CDAT and Dr Vanessa Rose, Deputy Director of CHETRE (Centre for Health Equity Training Research and Evaluation) spoke about Community STaR. A team of excellent speakers was headed by Emeritus Professor Ian Webster, an internationally acclaimed expert in the field. Speakers also included Dr John Crozier from Liverpool Hospital and local police, youth, family and health workers who together led a panel discussion about the issues. Local young people made creative contributions with two short films. The hard-hitting “What Happened” showed the consequences of a drunken party and “Still Thirsty” was a hilarious satire on alcohol advertising. The afternoon concluded with a ‘café conferencing’ style discussion where all participants had an opportunity to discuss ‘what works’ in reducing alcohol-related harm.

The forum was rated highly by participants who valued the evidence presented about effective public health strategies such as regulating access, availability and promotion of alcohol, strengthening licensing and price controls and promoting a safer drinking culture. The importance of working together as a community to solve problems of alcohol-related harm and the need for social inclusion were stressed by a number of participants and speakers. Participants also said they valued the opportunity to network, workshop ideas and opinions and gain access to new information and a deeper understanding of the local context. A number of participants expressed interest in continuing discussions on ‘what works’ and would have liked more time for this. The Liverpool CDAT continues to work on these issues and invites interested people to join. See below for Liverpool CDAT contact details.

Joseph Gormley, the Project Officer for Liverpool CDAT is the contact person for further information. Joseph is contactable by phone on (02) 9378-1300 and email: Joseph.Gormley@sswahs.nsw.gov.au

“The poor health of the poor, the social gradient in health within countries, and the marked health inequities between countries are caused by the unequal distribution of power, income, goods, and services, globally and nationally, the consequent unfairness in the immediate, visible circumstances of people’ s lives – their access to health care, schools, and education, their conditions of work and leisure, their homes, communities, towns, or cities – and their chances of leading a flourishing life. This unequal distribution of health-damaging experiences is not in any sense a ‘natural’ phenomenon but is the result of a toxic combination of poor social policies and programmes, unfair economic arrangements, and bad politics. Together, the structural determinants and conditions of daily life constitute the social determinants of health and are responsible for a major part of health inequities between and within countries”.

World Health Organisation (WHO): Commission on Social Determinants of Health FINAL REPORT 2008.

Men’s Health Forum at Miller PCYC- 7th of June 2013

The inaugural Men’s Health Forum held at the PCYC in Miller on June 7 explored the effects of the social determinants of health on various groups of men. The social determinants are the social and economic conditions that differentially effect health. These conditions may affect, but are different from, individual factors that affect health. (See WHO extract above). The forum, organised by Community STaR in partnership with an advisory group of staff from local and other services and agencies, was coordinated by Harrison Ng Chok from CHETRE. The forum was a result of concern about the health consequences of socio-economic issues affecting our communities. Men’s health issues were focused upon in this forum and participation in the discussion was encouraged by a World Café technique where participants circulated around café-style tables set up as topic discussion areas. Group discussions were framed by the social determinants of health and their effects on the following groups – Aboriginal men, CALD men, unemployed men, young men and older men. Issues discussed included the effects of poverty, discrimination and stigma, trauma, violence, historical injustice and conflict, powerlessness, racism, social dislocation, identity issues, lack of employment options. Emphasis was placed on increasing access to educational, training, retraining, language and employment opportunities, job creation, skill recognition, public transport, housing, health programs and services and the increased funding for community resources in areas of need. An ongoing men’s health network was established to continue the process initiated through the forum.

Andrew Reid from The Hub Community Health Centre is the contact person for information about the Men’s Health Network. Andrew is contactable by phone on 9608 8920 or email: Andrew.Reid@sswahs.nsw.gov.au

The voices of the unheard remain unheard. But it is precisely in this contradiction that hope lies, joined inexorably, with the hopes of the oppressed across the globe. People are made and pulled apart by social and economic structures that de-humanise, compartmentalise, destroy, humiliate, blame; people are made to feel that lives are worth little, that their position at the bottom of the heap completely excludes and effectively disempowers them. Good policy is organically connected to self-empowerment and a redis­tribution of resources as an essential element of genuine empowerment.

To coincide with Men’s Health Week, Community STaR (Service for Training and Research) will be hosting the ‘South West Sydney Men’s Health Forum: The social determinants of men’s health’. This forum arose from a need to look at how social and community factors, such as unemployment and social isolation, affect men’s health in this region more broadly. Our keynote speaker is Professor John Macdonald, who is the Foundation Chair in Primary Health Care and Director of the Men’s Health Information and Resource Centre (MHIRC) at the University of Western Sydney and is a patron for the Australian Men’s Shed Association. He will speak at the forum on a social determinants approach to improving men’s health and will be introduced by the honourable Member for Fowler Chris Hayes MP.

The forum is held at the Liverpool PCYC, Cartwright Ave Miller on Friday June the 7th at 10:30am – 2:30pm and lunch is provided. Local and regional service providers that deal with young and older men are expected to attend and efforts will be made to develop a formal South West Sydney Men’s Health network for Men’s Health service providers working in the region.

If you wish to attend please RSVP and contact Harrison Ng Chok on telephone (02) 8738 9326 or email h.ngchok@unsw.edu.au

“If we are serious about engaging men and boys in programs and campaigns to improve their health, we need to look at how they each live their lives as individuals, because the current one size fits all messages aren’t good enough.” -Professor Macdonald